Haunted Places in Winter Haven, Florida



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    JPV Woods

    Winter Haven, Florida

    Locals say if you go on the old dirt trail around midnight of August 13th, every year, you'll hear children screaming and crying for help.


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    Scotty's Distribution Center

    Winter Haven, Florida

    No longer a Scotty's Distribution Center, but back in the day there was supposedly the ghost of a forklift driver that would continually haunt this area - particularly on the 4th of March.


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    Old Polk County Courthouse

    Bartow, Florida

    11 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    The Old Polk County Courthouse in Bartow was built in 1909 on the foundations of the original courthouse, which dated back to the early 1880s. There are many claims here, including: - Screams from the basement (supposedly from a worker killed in an explosion on the site) - Apparitions appearing on ...


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    The Stanford Inn

    Bartow, Florida

    11 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    A "noisy" apparition, believed to be a former owner named Lee Meriwether, is said to inhabit this quaint modern-day bed and breakfast. Doors also allegedly close on their own, and disembodied footsteps can be heard on the staircase. The Stanford Inn was featured the 1991 film "My Girl," starring Dan ...


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    Spook Hill

    Lake Wales, Florida

    11.9 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Spook Hill is a gravity hill (an optical illusion where cars appear to roll up the spooky hill) in Lake Wales, Florida. Spook Hill is located on the Lake Wales Ridge, a geologically significant range of sand and limestone hills, which were islands from two to three million years ago, when ...


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    Florida Southern College

    Lakeland, Florida

    12.9 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Vague tales from the night staff saying "eerie presences" touched or breathed on them.


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    Annie Pfeiffer Chapel

    Lakeland, Florida

    13.2 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Florida Southern College's chapel, one of the campus's famous Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings, may be home to the ghost of Wright himself. Rumor has it that the chapel's choir screen was installed incorrectly, and Wright's apparition has been seen in the chapel, poring over the improperly placed choir screen.


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    Webber International University - Camilla Hall

    Babson Park, Florida

    17.6 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Camilla Hall, one of the girls-only dormitories at Webber International University, supposedly has a shadowy figure haunting the second floor.


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    Big Bamboo Lounge

    Kissimmee, Florida

    26.6 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    The Big Bamboo Lounge was a Kissimmee institution, a popular hangout for Disney and ex-Disney employees as well as British expats. Unfortunately it was damaged during a hurricane and closed down for a while, during which time some vagrants moved in and accidentally burned it down. So it's ...


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    Ghost Lights of Bereah Road

    Fort Meade, Florida

    26.8 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    You may have to wait for a while, but supposedly if you hang about at night near the four-way stop of W. Bereah Road and County Line Road in Frostproof, you'll see some eerie "Ghost Lights" approach your car.


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  • Field Guide To Haunted Orlando
    David W. Whitehead
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    Susan's Courtside Café

    Kissimmee, Florida

    27.1 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Susan's Courtside Café is housed in a 1912 home, and is said to be haunted. The restaurant's rooms are themed with items from Kissimmee's past, including a firefighter room. Witnesses have seen eerie shadows and heard strange noises in the building at night.


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    The Fisherwoman of Lake Arcola

    Avon Park, Florida

    28.5 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Lake Arcola is no more - it dried up decades ago and is now mostly open fields with some water and a few small structures. And that's what makes it so weird that drivers on North Buckingham Road, which skirts the western edge of what used to be Lake ...


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    Disney World - Pirates of the Caribbean

    Orlando, Florida

    28.8 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Almost everyone's been on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World... but did you know that many believe the ride is haunted? According to employees, a welder named George died while the ride was originally under construction in the 1970s. His ghost still lingers according to ...


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    Disney World - Haunted Mansion

    Orlando, Florida

    29 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    The Walt Disney World Haunted Mansion is said to be haunted by several entities including a ghostly man in a tuxedo and a limping pilot with a cane said to have crashed his plane on this spot in the 1940s. Urban legend tells of a little boy who was cremated ...


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    Ghost Lights of Heard Bridge Road

    Wauchula, Florida

    30.3 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    People have been reporting ghost lights since the 1950s on Heard Bridge Road in Fort Meade, as well as on Keller road, past Disong. We've marked the Keller Road location on the map below.


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    Osprey Links at Hunter's Creek

    Orlando, Florida

    30.4 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    At this apartment complex off of Town Center Boulevard and John Young Parkway, reports say a resident witnessed cold spots, lights turning on by themselves, and strange sounds. A shadowy form of a man was seen as well. The strange occurrences were attributed to the fact that the apartment is ...


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    St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce

    St. Cloud, Florida

    31.5 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Rattling, whistling, and unexplained shadows and footsteps have been detected in this 1910 building, formerly a bank. Rumor has it that the hauntings stem from incidents in the structure's past: a major bank robbery and a double homicide.


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    Hunter Arms Hotel

    Saint Cloud, Florida

    31.5 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    A ghost named Vivian is alleged to haunt the Hunter Arms Hotel. Strange noises and cold spots have been reported. Doors tend to slam when no one is around.


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    Peabody Hotel

    Orlando, Florida

    32.3 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Built in 1986, the Peabody (famous for its marching ducks) was the second-tallest building in Orlando. There are claims that a number of people have committed suicide in the building over the years, and that their spirits can sometimes be seen roaming the hallways. The Peabody building still stands, but ...


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    James McCabe Theatre

    Valrico, Florida

    32.5 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Reports say that paranormal groups have offered ghost tours as fund-raisers here. The 1915 building, once the Valrico Civic Center and then a woman’s club, is rumored to have more than a few haunts. Witnesses have seen apparitions and heard strange sounds, and experienced other odd occurrences.


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    The Mailman of Avon Park

    Avon Park, Florida

    32.7 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    There have been persistent claims of seeing a ghostly mailman walking the streets near the intersection of Main Street and Lake Avenue, especially on foggy mornings. He disappears the moment you try to contact him.


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    Bloody Bucket Bridge

    Wauchula, Florida

    33.5 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    This spooky story starts more than a century ago with a slave midwife who was concerned that parents were having more babies than they could support. She is said to have smothered many babies and buried their bodies near the bridge. After many babies were killed, the midwife began to ...


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    Crowne Plaza

    Orlando, Florida

    33.8 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    There are vague reports of a ghostly entity inhabiting room 621. A guest swore they saw a full-bodied apparition and insisted on switching rooms.


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    Hardee Correctional Institution

    Bowling Green, Florida

    34.3 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    There are vague reports of "voices" and a feeling like someone's walking just behind you at this correctional institution... though I'd venture to say its not uncommon to experience either in a high security prison!


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    Center Place

    Brandon, Florida

    34.4 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    A spirit called (for some reason) "Matilda" is said to haunt this building. She was seen by at least one witness, and others claim to have either felt her presence or actually seen paintings and other objects move without explanation. Allegedly at one point local news reporters came ...


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    Popash School

    Zolfo Springs, Florida

    34.7 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    This eerie abandoned school building stood on the outskirts of Wauchula for years and years before it was finally demolished in 2008. Before it was torn down it was a favorite place for ghost hunters, as the sounds of children playing were constantly heard in the area, even when ...


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    Super 8 International Drive

    Orlando, Florida

    34.8 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Room 206 has long been considered a haunted hot-spot in this Orlando hotel. Make the bed in this room and sometimes you'll find the faint imprint of a human form underneath the covers. Others swear they have felt someone in the bed with them, or that it starts ...


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    The Edwinola Hotel

    Dade City, Florida

    36.6 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Although this 1912 hotel is no longer in operation, the building remains in use to this day. Staff and tenants at living quarters in the current establishment have reported elevators operating by themselves, ghostly voices coming from empty rooms, and the smell of cigar smoke. Others working the night ...


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    Harden House

    Clermont, Florida

    37 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    The ghost that walks here is said to be John W. Hardin, who was shot to death in the back yard in 1975 sometime during or after his truck caught on fire. The mystery of who killed Hardin is unsolved, but his wife, Victoria Mango Hardin, claimed to see his ...


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    Haunted Creek down Jones Road

    St. Cloud, Florida

    37.6 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    If you take Jones Road all the way down to the end and then continue on a dirt path you'll find the "haunted creek." Locals say a little boy died there years ago, and his spirit still haunts the creek. He seems to be an angry ghost and ...


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    St. Leo University

    St. Leo, Florida

    38.6 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Not much information on this one - just that some stories have it that the ghost of a young woman is seen on campus, often walking through walls.


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    Central Fire Station

    Sebring, Florida

    40.5 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Forrest Howard, Sebring's fire chief in the 1940s and 1950s, is said to still roam the halls of his favorite fire station. Modern day firefighters swear they see him in the bunk area, and they occasionally smell faint scents of his much-beloved cigars.


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    Orange Hill Cemetery

    Orlando, Florida

    40.8 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Although it hardly looks like it, this mostly empty-looking plot of land is actually a pauper's cemetery.  In fact, the cemetery was almost completely forgotten until county officials researching the area for possible development in 1996 discovered its true use in old documents.  Roughly 522 people were buried there between ...


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    Sunland Hospital Site - Orlando

    Orlando, Florida

    40.9 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    "Sunland Hospital" was demolished nearly two decades ago, but locals still know the story well. It was a treatment center for those with severe mental handicaps, and for many years it was a poorly-kept secret that the children there weren't treated with the very best of care. Finally ...


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    Myrtle Hill Cemetery

    Tampa, Florida

    40.9 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    The mausoleum here is supposedly haunted by a girl named Stephanie, who was killed in a car crash.


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    Kenilworth Lodge

    Sebring, Florida

    41.1 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    There are a number of ghost stories surrounding this building, which dates back to 1916. Eerie feelings are reported on the staircase, and doors have been seen opening and closing entirely on their own. One guest heard voices outside his door throughout the night, and when he complained ...


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    Sioux Villa

    Orlando, Florida

    41.2 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Sioux Villa was the home of Mahlon and Caroline Gore. Mahlon was an early mayor of Orlando. They built the home in 1906 on the shore of Lake Lucerne, but it was later moved to its current location on Waverly Place, just off Orange Avenue. Modern-day occupants have ...


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    Arbuckle Creek Bridge

    Lorida, Florida

    41.2 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Legend has it that an old woman, one who was knowledgable with potions and healing, used to live nearby, and her spirit still haunts the bridge. So the tales say, the woman was hired to make a love potion, for which her payment was to be the client's first-born child. ...


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    HMS Architecture Building - USF Tampa

    Tampa, Florida

    41.3 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    The fourth floor of this building - particularly room 469 - is considered to be haunted by a malevolent-feeling spirit by the late-night staff. Voices are heard, and on at least one occasion a wind-chime started jangling all by itself. One worker saw a spectral German Shepherd dog ...


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    Lake Lucerne - Lady in White

    Orlando, Florida

    41.4 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    David Whitehead mentions in his "Field Guide to Haunted Orlando" a "Lady in White" figure that has been spotted multiple times near an old oak tree on the south shore of Lake Lucerne.


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    Harder Hall

    Sebring, Florida

    41.5 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Built in the 1920s, urban legend states that every owner of this hotel has died under "strange circumstances" - often within the limits of the property. And we wouldn't want the facts to get in the way of a good story. Other ghost stories abound of former visitors ...


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    Miller, Sellen, Conner and Walsh

    Orlando, Florida

    41.5 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Amanda Branham writes of this location in "Orlando Ghosts," though the law-firm no longer appears to be located here. (The sign out front now says "Page, Eichenblatt, Bernbaum & Bennett") Employees of the firm would hear disembodied voices and often would get the feeling that they were being watched. ...


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    University of South Florida Library

    Tampa, Florida

    41.5 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Ghostly legend here tells of a young woman named Gottlieb, an English major who worked on the library's fourth floor, was found hanging from an oak tree. Foul play was suspected, and after that, strange things happened at the library. Book carts moved by themselves, automatic doors opened without being ...


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    Hamburger Mary's - Bumby Block

    Orlando, Florida

    41.7 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    The Bumby Block building dates back to the 1880s. Currently it houses "Hamburger Mary's Bar and Grille", but originally it was a hardware store. Staff in the building regularly see the apparition of a young girl dressed in Victorian clothing. She seems to enjoy tapping on the windows and waving to ...


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    Bliss Nightclub

    Orlando, Florida

    41.7 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Closed as of 2013, "Bliss" was one of Orlando's premiere dance clubs. When it was open, staff would refuse to into one of the refrigerated rooms after dark. They constantly felt like someone was watching them - an evil presence. Furniture would often move around on its own as well.


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    Ceviche

    Orlando, Florida

    41.7 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    This building was originally a church, and later a hotel - now it is a popular restaurant called Ceviche. Check out the large, antique mirror behind the bar at Ceviche - some nights guests will see an out-of-place woman dressed in 19th century garb, standing behind them in the reflection. Of ...


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    Republic Bank - Citrus Center

    Orlando, Florida

    41.7 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    The Citrus Club is an elite business/networking organization located at 255 S. Orange Ave. A Republic Bank used to be attached to it (it appears now to be a Suntrust branch). Clubhouse members have seen shadow figures roaming the building and peculiar noises are heard when no one ...


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    Exchange Building

    Orlando, Florida

    41.7 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    All the activity here centers around an old piano in the building, which some guests have heard play on its own (no, its not a player piano). A few have even seen a ghostly piano player sitting beside it.


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    Elijah Hand Building

    Orlando, Florida

    41.8 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    Elijah Hand was an undertaker and furniture-maker from Indiana who moved to Orlando in 1885. It might sound like an odd juxtaposition, but back in the day it was fairly common, as the undertaker often was also responsible for crafting coffins. Elijah was different from other undertakers because he was a ...


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    First National Bank and Trust Company Building

    Orlando, Florida

    41.8 miles from Winter Haven, FL

    This hefty building went up in the 1920s, and was initially the First National Bank and Trust Company. That name still is etched into the stonework at the top, but today it is used by Valencia Community College. David Whitehead writes of this building in his "Field Guide to Haunted Orlando," ...


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  • Florida Ghost Stories
    Robert R Jones


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